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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26150593">Madness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RollingMist13/pseuds/RollingMist13'>RollingMist13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Game of Thrones (TV), Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, F/M, Older Man/Younger Woman, Physical Torture, Psychological Drama, Psychological Torture, Serial Killers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:55:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,891</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26150593</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RollingMist13/pseuds/RollingMist13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Multiple chaptered AU story that will focus on Tywin &amp; Arya. </p><p>The renowned FBI profiler Tywin Lannister enlists the help of notorious Serial Killer Arya Stark to hunt down another rampaging killer that murdered his family. Set in the Silence of the Lambs Universe.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tywin Lannister/Arya Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Old Foes Reunited</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi,</p><p>Another Tywin &amp; Arya focused story from me and this one really has my attention.</p><p>Important points:</p><p>Arya is in her mid 20s, Tywin in his late 50s; inspired by the movie "Silence of the Lambs" (look it up if you don't know it) so it will be in that vein of thought and set in the 1980s, think old cars, large phones and baggy jackets, no social media, funny hats etc.</p><p>Well this was supposed to be a one-shot … then I got too invested :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tywin's hand tapped impatiently on the cane he held between his legs. He was anxious, although he didn't let the useless emotion show on his face.</p><p>He had visited this psychiatric ward so many times over the past few decades that he had lost count. He had conducted interviews with and observed the inmates, he had discussed psychological profiles with the resident psychologists, Dr. Jon Arryn and Dr Petyr Baelish, and created a few for the FBI to use on active cases.</p><p>He had been a very successful psychologist with his own thriving practice when the FBI had come calling for his expertise to help catch a serial killer that had been murdering with style and creativity all around Westeros.</p><p>He had had the arrogance and the ability to lead the FBI to the "<em>Faceless One"</em> but the attention he had put on catching the FBI's wanted killer had left an opening in his life that another villain had exploited.</p><p>Tywin rubbed a hand down his left leg, it always hurt when he thought of that night. The night he had captured his greatest quarry, the night he had been shot, and the night he had lost half his family.</p><p>Yesterday had been that night's one-year anniversary and he had received a chilling message that had prompted him to come here to seek out advice, but it wasn't advice from his former colleagues that he wanted. No doubt they had already given their opinions to the FBI.</p><p>He wanted the <em>Faceless One's</em> advice; he wanted her advice.</p><p>"Dr Lannister," an old and haggard looking man said as he leaned through the doorway to the waiting hall.</p><p>"Dr Arryn," Tywin curtly replied.</p><p>"Come this way," the white-haired man said as he gripped a clipboard to his chest.</p><p>Tywin did as asked and walked with the help of his cane to his former colleague. Once there they started a slow walk down the corridors.</p><p>Jon Arryn was a kindly man; he may not have been the first to offer his condolences but he was one of the few that was still giving Tywin his sympathises and leaving regular voice mail messages to check in on him.</p><p>That was why it had been him who Tywin had called to arrange this meeting; he knew the aging man would grant his request while others at the institute might not have.</p><p>The clicking of his cane hitting the floor followed the two men as they passed through gate after gate, guard after guard and checkpoint after checkpoint.</p><p>"Dr Lannister, Tywin," Jon said suddenly in a soft voice up to the taller man, "I have alerted the FBI that you are here, the meeting will be recorded as are our protocols. Did you inform the FBI about the message you received from the <em>BTK</em> killer?"</p><p>"Of course," Tywin growled letting his anger cover over his grief, "They know I received a message from .. that monster .. threatening the remaining members of my family and that I am here seeking help from one of your inmates."</p><p>Jon Arryn's hand rested on the final gate, "Yes but why seek out her advice, why not let the FBI handle it? Why turn to a psychopath for help?"</p><p>"The FBI were supposed to be protecting my family the night they were <em>b</em>lindfolded, <em>t</em>ortured and <em>k</em>illed and you know as well as I that the greatest psychological profiler is locked up in this facility, not running it."</p><p>"Two agents died that night outside your house trying to protect your family," Jon gently reminded his friend as he swung the gate open before quickly moving on, "She is the greatest profiler I have ever come across but she is also the most dangerous woman I have ever seen and I run an asylum for serial killers."</p><p>Tywin nodded as he limped through the iron barred gate. He was slightly surprised when the gate slammed shut behind him with Dr Arryn on the other side.</p><p>"She is the last cell on the left, keep to the right and since you are an experienced visitor, I will refrain from lecturing you on the rules," Jon said in a tone that expected compliance.</p><p>"I have placed a chair in front of her cell for you," Jon said eyeing Tywin's cane through the bars.</p><p>"Thank you," Tywin said graciously, "Not just for the chair but for setting up the meeting."</p><p>Dr Arryn shrugged, "I may not be the greatest psychological profiler in this building but I could tell you need it."</p><p>Tywin was going to quiz his friend on the meaning behind his words but the old man turned away and started to walk away at a hurried pace.</p><p>Tywin exhaled and placed his cane out in front of him as if testing the ground then straightened his posture and walked with as much purpose and confidence his injury would allow.</p><p>He passed empty cell after empty cell but after six he reached the lone chair and turned his head to the left to see his captured nemesis.</p><p>There she was standing in the middle of the cell with the harsh man-made light wrapping around her.</p><p>The first thing you noticed about the <em>Faceless One</em> is how tiny her frame is, how impossible small she is to have committed all the violent acts she had been found guilty of. Tywin savoured noticing the coldness of her grey eyes in person, as he very well knew normally there wasn't a second chance to notice anything about the young woman.</p><p>"Dr Lannister," she said sweetly before showing her teeth, "How is the leg?"</p><p>"Miss <em>Snow</em>," he greeted with polite caution evident in his voice, "It is sore, may I sit?"</p><p>"You may," Arya said watching his every move with her hands drumming lightly on her thighs as if beating to a rhythm only she could hear.</p><p>It was only when he had sat down and the cane was cradled in-between his two hands did she move. Arya glided to the glass wall separating them so she was a hands width away from the invisible barrier.</p><p>"You haven't lost your taste for expensive suits or the finer things in life I see," Arya said observing him and sniffing the air, "but you have picked up an unfortunate habit of daytime drinking, whiskey if I am not mistaken."</p><p>Tywin half snorted, "I had a few tumblers before coming to visit one of the most notorious and dangerous serial killers of our time, I don't think anyone would be surprised."</p><p>"If you were a normal man maybe your tribble could be mistaken for dutch courage in the face of meeting a psychopath but you are the renowned Doctor Tywin Lannister, famed psychologist to the rich, relentless hunter of serial killers, known for your ability to reconstruct someone's psyche with precise words and for your demanding demeanour and uncompromising standards. It must be quite something to know you in your personal life."</p><p>Tywin took the complements in silence and ignored the teasing tone in which the last comment had been hummed, annoyed she could smell the whiskey he had been sipping only a few hours ago.</p><p>Arya tapped the glass to make sure she had his attention squarely focused on her as she smiled sinisterly through the transparent wall.</p><p>"But all I see in front of me now is a broken man, yes you wear your nice suite, you combed back your hair, you even shined your shoes but I smell the terror surrounding you. You are broken and you are afraid. You have lost control."</p><p>"I am not afraid or broken," Tywin flared, his ego unable to take the crude insults as his hands twisted around the golden handle of his cane, "I am in control."</p><p>"Don't lie to me," Arya roared, "You should not lie to someone that saved your life."</p><p>"You put me in the hospital," Tywin exclaimed.</p><p>"I shot you in the leg," Arya said while waving off the injury as if it was nothing, "and because you were in the hospital you weren't getting murdered with the rest of your family at home. Your welcome."</p><p>Try as he might Tywin couldn't keep out the image of finding the mutilated bodies of his daughter, son-in-law and their children in his living room as he had hobbled in the next morning.</p><p>Arya feasted on the conflict and pain that was flashing in his golden flecked green eyes. It was so delicious to her. She wondered if he was conscious that the knuckles on his hands were turning white with the downwards pressure, he was putting on them or how his shoulders had tensed at the mention of his dead family.</p><p>Arya started to pace back and forth from one side of her cell to the other.</p><p>"But why oh why are you here," she said playfully before hushing Tywin's response with a single wagged finger. "Wait let me guess, <em>BTK </em>sent you something didn't he," at Tywin's slight nod she continued, "He sent you something on the anniversary didn't he?" After another miniscule nod Arya shook her head, "How entirely predictable. I bet it was a message saying how he will finish the job, am I correct?"</p><p>Tywin was fed up of nodding and the woman opposite him dominating the conversation so he stood up with the help of his cane and limped towards the glass so that in terms of distance they were half a metre away from each other.</p><p>"Will you help me catch him?" he asked with pain still lingering heavily in every motion..</p><p>Arya stopped pacing and looked Tywin directly in the eyes as if debating something with herself, "Admit what you are and I might say yes."</p><p>"Stop playing games and give me an answer," Tywin half yelled as the frustration of the situation suddenly got to him.</p><p>Arya blinked slowly and her entire body went rigid sending off waves of danger that Tywin was too desperate to pick up on, "If you want my help to catch the person responsible for torturing half your family to death and to stop him from killing the rest you will have to remember your manners and tell the truth."</p><p>Tywin slammed his hands onto the glass, letting the cane clatter to the floor. He rested his forehead on the glass while closing his eyes.</p><p>"You do want my help, don't you?" Arya said crouching to better see the former FBI profiler's face.</p><p>"I don't want it, I need it," Tywin confessed more to himself than to the deadly woman in front of him.</p><p>"Because …" Arya prodded, memorising every twitch of Tywin's facial muscles as the truth and his ego fought inside his head.</p><p>"Because I am broken … and I am afraid," Tywin whispered, "Because I am not in control."</p><p>Arya smiled up at Tywin who had opened his eyes, "Now was that so hard to admit?"</p><p>"Yes," Tywin spat out as he pushed away from the glass with one hand and picked up his cane with the other, "I am not the same man I was a year ago when I caught you."</p><p>Arya clasped her hands behind her, "You are admitting you can't catch him alone … the famous FBI profiler Tywin Lannister is admitting he can't do his job without the help of a little girl."</p><p>"Not my job anymore, I am retired and you are not a little girl. You possess a keen insight into the human mind which you have displayed in the way you choose and tracked down your victims-"</p><p>"Victims," Arya scoffed, "Each and every one of them deserved their death."</p><p>"Yes, and the way you hunted them down, every paedophile, wife beater, kidnapper, gang leader and corrupt banker was exquisite. And you did that all without the resources of the FBI at your disposal."</p><p>"Then you interrupted my <em>exquisite</em> work," Arya said darkly before spinning away from the man responsible for her capture, "If I help you and look at the evidence the <em>F.. B .. I</em> have gathered and my input catches your man what would I get in return? I have a multiple life sentence."</p><p>"I can have you moved to a .. more accommodating facility, where you can once a week go outside and see the sky, touch a tree, attend classes and have access to a library."</p><p>"I prefer to learn by doing," Arya muttered.</p><p>"You will get to spend the remaining years of your life in better comfort than you are now. What do you have to lose?"</p><p>"Absolutely nothing," Arya answered as she swivelled around to face Tywin again who had sat back in the chair, "I agree to help you. Get me the FBI file on the case and I will start immediately."</p><p>Tywin hesitated in the chair, it all felt too easy. She had agreed to his terms quickly but he shrugged off the feeling. She was a captured serial killer; she was probably just bored.</p><p>"I will get you the file," Tywin said rising from the chair.</p><p>"I look forward to reading it and seeing the pictures," Arya winked and the way she said it sent shivers up Tywin's back as he limped away.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author Notes:</p><p>BTK is short for Blind, Torture and Kill which is a nickname of a real serial killer but is applied here to my fictional one because that describes essentially what he/she does.</p><p>Thoughts on Arya's nickname of Faceless One? She got it because she is a master of disguise and no witnesses ever described her accurately. Also no one knows her true name, so they just call her Miss Snow because she refuses to reveal her real name … I wonder why … ;P</p><p>This will be a firm M rated story so just warning you that next chapter more dark themes will be covered which might include gore, sexual situations, bad language, violence, addiction etc.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <em>A few hours later .. in the evening </em>
</p><hr/><p>Tywin gave a short nod to the two cops stationed outside his house as he opened and closed the gate leading to his mansion.</p><p>One was a young and handsome man that gave Tywin a deep smile that he did not return and the other one was a shade of deathly white whom Tywin had seen regularly stationed outside his residence.</p><p>Tywin made his way over the stony gravel to reach the front door. It was dark wood and Tywin placed the key inside the lock but before turning it he fought off the deja vue he was feeling as he pushed open the door.</p><p>This time there was no red river greeting him, this time there were no mutilated bodies presented in his living room but what was the same was that he was alone.</p><p>He was always alone in this mansion. His two sons refused to come to the place where their sister, niece and nephew had been slaughtered in and he wasn't the type of man that had friends.</p><p>But Tywin wouldn't move. He couldn't, not until the BTK killer had been caught. The former blood-stained floors and walls reminded Tywin everyday what his sole purpose was. It was his cage that he could only unlock when he had absolved himself of his family's deaths.</p><p>A few minutes later Tywin had discarded his coat and was sitting at a desk covered in photos depicting all the known BTK kills the FBI had managed to catalogue with a half full tumbler of whiskey in his hand.</p><p>The liquid soothed his mind and his muscles as he continued to try to make connections between the horrors, he was forcing himself to look at.</p><p>He let out a gasp of frustration as his mind was beginning to succumb to the human need to sleep. He rubbed his eyes and when he looked up again all he saw was his daughter sitting comfortably on the couch in front of his desk smiling at him. He blinked and the image changed to her slumped on the couch with her head hanging from her neck.</p><p><em>Why didn't you save me? Why weren't you here? Why did I have to die?</em> He heard from her cold lips.</p><p>Tywin leaned back in his chair. This wasn't happening. This was a dream, he tried to tell himself but when he blinked again his three grandchildren had been added to the ghostly picture in front of him.</p><p>Joffrey was reading a book on the other couch as blood dripped from his empty eye sockets, Tommen was laying in Cersei's lap as she stroked what should have been his forehead but was simply a gory mess of flesh and Myrcella she was coming towards him with a sweet smile on her face as blood seeped from the numerous stab wounds on her torso so that her clothes were all coloured crimson now.</p><p>Tywin rushed out of his chair, scrapping his cane against the floor in his hurry, as Myrcella got close enough to his desk to touch it.</p><p>"I'm sorry," was all he could say as the ghost of his granddaughter kept smiling up at him.</p><p>Myrcella continued to stare at him until her face started to morph into a wickedly dark grin, then she launched herself over the desk with her two hands aiming for her grandfather's throat.</p><p>Tywin let out a shout of alarm then woke up.</p><hr/><p>He heard the glass crack on the wooden floor and the papers fluttering to the floor.</p><p>He had been asleep. It was all in his head. The sweat dribbled from the back of his neck as he confirmed that the two couches were unoccupied. He next looked down at the floor, the remains of his whiskey was running over the fallen photos of the BTK's victims.</p><p>Before Tywin could clean up his mess his desk phone started to ring. He checked his golden Rolex wrist watch.</p><p>Seven o'clock in the morning.</p><p>He groaned as he realised, he had passed out at his study desk again.</p><p>"Yes," he barked down the phone as he picked it up.</p><p>"Tywin," came a soft-spoken voice.</p><p>"Dr Arryn, what do I owe the pleasure of speaking to you this early in the morning?"</p><p>"I apologise about the hour but I have rather urgent news."</p><p>"Do go on," Tywin said as he flattened down his crumpled clothes with his free hand.</p><p>"Miss Snow escaped from her cell early this morning," Tywin stopped attending to his clothes, "We don't know how she escaped we only found her empty cell an hour ago but since you saw her last I thought I should inform you and warn you that she might try to <em>contact</em> you."</p><p>"No, I wouldn't worry about that," Tywin said stiffly.</p><p>"Tywin, you talked to her not even twenty-four hours ago and now she has escaped. I would advise you to be careful and seek out protection."</p><p>"I already have cops stationed outside my house because one serial killer has threatened me recently, I don't think she would be stupid enough to seek me out when I am such an obvious target."</p><p>"Fine," Jon said clearly not convinced by his fellow psychologist's answer, "Be careful."</p><p>Tywin heard the click ending the phone call and placed it back down slowly.</p><p>"Stupid, am I?" Arya said aiming a small handgun at Tywin while standing in the doorway in her orange jumpsuit.</p><hr/><p>"What other word is there for you coming here? This place is surrounded by police," Tywin snarled as his hands dipped under the desk.</p><p>"I would call it daring," Arya said advancing on the stationary man, "and two cops listening to the radio in their car is hardly surrounded."</p><p>"Do you expect to get far once you have shot me?" Tywin inquired keeping his cool.</p><p>"Now <em>that</em> would be stupid for me to shoot you and alert everyone around that I was here. No if I was going to kill you, I would use a knife," Arya said sitting down on one of the couches and placing her gun on the coffee table between the two couches and producing a knife from behind her back.</p><p>"Much quieter," she said twirling the slim knife in her hand.</p><p>Tywin who had been guiding his hand slowly to his desk drawer choose this moment to grab his own handgun and aim it at Arya.</p><p>She didn't even move as Tywin had scrambled for his gun. Her own gun still rested on the coffee table in front of her but she leaned back as if forgetting it existed.</p><p>"Now you are going to hand yourself to the cops outside," Tywin growled keeping the gun trained on her.</p><p>Arya laughed, "Those two, outside? You would have been safer with two Jack Russels protecting you. I managed to slip in here with ease. They would not have stopped BTK and indeed they didn't deter me."</p><p>Tywin rose from his desk with one hand on his cane and the other firmly on the gun. The movement caused more photos to fall from his desk.</p><p>"It still haunts you I see," Arya said as she watched the papers fell to the ground to join the glass tumbler.</p><p>"What do you know of loss, you are just a monster," he accused.</p><p>"Quite, a lot actually," Arya said comfortably from the couch.</p><p>"Move," Tywin demanded now halfway between his desk and the couches.</p><p>"BTK came here for you but found them and the guilt is eating you up inside, turning you to the bottle. I can only imagine how you felt once you had entered this room," Arya gestured around her, "and found those you loved slaughtered and your name drawn in their blood on the floor."</p><p>"Enough," Tywin shouted, "Move."</p><p>"No."</p><p>"No," Tywin repeated readjusting his grip on the gun.</p><p>"You aren't going to shoot me so why should I move?"</p><p>"You think I am not capable?"</p><p>"Oh, you are capable of pulling the trigger I have no doubt but …" Arya trailed off as her hand dug into her pockets to sprinkle bullets across the floor.</p><p><em>Shit,</em> Tywin thought as he pulled the trigger.</p><p>Nothing, just an empty click.</p><p>Tywin attempted to limped back to his desk to where he knew he kept spare bullets but he felt the cold knife edge on his throat as soon as he had turned his back.</p><p>"Drop the gun," she ordered from just behind Tywin's head.</p><p>Tywin complied as he felt Arya's legs encircling his midriff to maintain her position hugging his back.</p><p>"Good," she said as her free hand started to undo Tywin's tie.</p><p>Tywin didn't even have a moment to wonder what she wanted with his tie as she continued to talk into his ear, "You have a lovely home."</p><p>"You have been in my home all night, haven't you?" he deduced, "You took the bullets from my desk as-"</p><p>"You were sleeping over the pictures of your dead family, yes," Arya confirmed, "You didn't look like you were having a restful slumber."</p><p>"What are you going to do now?"</p><p>"Well I thought-" Arya started as the phone on Tywin's desk started to ring again.</p><p>"You are popular this morning," Arya huffed sliding off his back with her knife in one hand and his tie in the other, "Answer it and don't alert them to my presence or things will end … messy."</p><p>Tywin brushed a hand over his throat as he made his way to his chair, took a moment to compose himself then answered the phone.</p><p>"Tywin Lannister speaking," he said watching Arya fold his tie up in her hands.</p><p>"Father? Are you okay?" came his eldest's voice.</p><p>"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Tywin said glancing at the escapee in front of him who was looking at a family photo on his desk.</p><p>"You know why so stop with the deflecting bullshit," Jaime harshly replied.</p><p>"When did you pick up psychology terminology?"</p><p>"Hard not to pick up some with you as a father. Now stop changing the topic."</p><p>"I am <em>fine</em>," Tywin said as Arya leaned over the desk lightly tapping the knife's point on the wood.</p><p>"Okay," Jaime said not believing his father.</p><p>"Jaime I already have half a squad outside my house," Tywin lied.</p><p>"Really, when I talked to Captain Bolton he said you had refused his offer of a full protection detail in favour of two cops stationed outside your house."</p><p>"You know I value my privacy."</p><p>"Do you not value your life? Jesus Christ Father, there are two psychopathic killers running around, one has directly threated your life and the other you put in jail."</p><p>"Jaime calm down," Tywin said noting the panicked tone in his son's voice.</p><p>"Sorry, I just .. I have lost enough family members I don't want to lose one to such a stupid thing as their own stubbornness."</p><p>"That is ironic you call <em>me</em> stubborn," Tywin smiled down the throne.</p><p>"You always said I got my stubbornness from Mother but I think I got it from you."</p><p>"You Aunt Genna would agree with you," Tywin replied, enjoying what could possibly be his last conversation with his eldest.</p><p>"You missed the anniversary," Jaime said soberly.</p><p>Tywin felt the air catch in his throat, "I was not ready to face them."</p><p>It was true on the morning of the anniversary he was supposed to have gone with his sons to the graveyard that held his daughter and grandchildren but he couldn't cross the threshold beyond the front door.</p><p>"It would be good to see you. Maybe we could go sailing this weekend?"</p><p>"That would be nice," Tywin said fully aware that it would never happen as Arya rounded his desk and went behind him.</p><p>"Meet at the sailing club?"</p><p>"I will see you there," Tywin said, keeping his concentration on the voice of his son and not the movements of the killer behind him.</p><p>"Great," Jaime said enthusiastically before ending the phone call.</p><p>In the next instant Tywin found his own tie was wrapped around his neck and was being tightened. His hands flew to his neck to try to release the pressure but he couldn't get his fingers underneath the silky material.</p><p>"St..op," he spluttered from his seated position.</p><p>Arya ignored him but loosened the tie ever so slightly, "Tell me everything you know about the BTK killer?"</p><p>"He mainly targets rich, influential people who he sees as representations of a system he despises," Tywin fired out, forcing his hands to still around his neck.</p><p>"Explains why he went after you," Arya murmured to herself, "What does he do to his victims?"</p><p>"He breaks into their houses, where they feel most safe, incapacitates them, ties them to a chair, blindfolds them, tortures them for hours then finally kills them to establish his superiority," Tywin recited from the memorised FBI file.</p><p>"Interesting," Arya muttered.</p><p>"If you were going to kill me you would have done it by now so take this off me," Tywin demanded boldly, having had a few precious seconds to evaluate the scenario.</p><p>"Mmmm it sure looks like I am going to kill you," Arya said playfully before tightening the noose, "Do you know how many lives have been destroyed because you put me behind bars and I didn't get to the evil bastards first?"</p><p>"You said you ... were going to help ... me catch the BTK ... killer," Tywin gasped, flailing out of the chair in an attempt to dislodge Arya using his superior weight and size to his advantage and hurling himself backwards so Arya landed on the desk surface with his full weight baring down on her but she didn't even cry out as Tywin attempted to crush her, only kept her grip strong.</p><p>The searing pain of using his crippled leg was the only thing keeping Tywin awake as he fought the lack of oxygen to keep his eyes open.</p><p>"I have reconsidered my decision," Arya purred into his ear, "In light of how easy it is to escape imprisonment these days. I think I will kill BTK instead."</p><p><em>Then why are you killing me?</em> Tywin thought as Arya continued to take away his life and the edges of his vision were blurring.</p><p>"And I know exactly what he wants," Arya said feeling the man's weight on top of her go limp.</p><p>Arya let Tywin's unconscious body fall face first to the floor, "He wants you."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Predators and Prey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/>
<p>
  <em>A few hours later .. in the afternoon</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Ramsey sipped the lukewarm coffee in his hand as he drummed along to the dark beat of his preferred radio station's DJ.</p>
<p>Gendry yawned as he stretched out his stiff back, "I think I will check on Dr Lannister."</p>
<p>"Why? It is only lunchtime; he is probably enjoying a liquid lunch as is his custom."</p>
<p>"I don't think I can handle your taste in music any longer and I need to do something that isn't sitting still in a car," Gendry complained, "It doesn't feel like we are doing anything."</p>
<p>"He has protection for a reason," Ramsey pointed out as he watched Gendry shrug and get out the car while placing his hat on top of his brown mop of hair.</p>
<p>"Wait, I'll join you, he is not known for his kindness wouldn't want you to get chewed out and go crying to your daddy in your first week."</p>
<p>"Says the son of the Captain," Gendry whistled back playfully, missing the slight tremor that went down Ramsey's back at the mention of his father.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Ramsey watched Gendry straighten out his uniform before knocking on the large polished oak door, knowing full well that there might be no answer.</p>
<p>It is hard to hear the knocking on the door let alone open it if you are three sheets to the wind and from Ramsey's observations Tywin Lannister was a man that spent more time under the influence of the bottle than not.</p>
<p><em>Shame,</em> Ramsey thought annoyedly, from all the articles Ramsey had read the man was supposed to have been a big shot psychologist that had criminals and law enforcement officials shaking in their boots but all he had seen from the past few weeks of protection detail was man lost in a forest of memories, walking pathways hand on hand with ghosts.</p>
<p>It lessened the whole occasion and that angered Ramsey.</p>
<p>After Gendry's third attempt at knocking with no answer Ramsey was about to suggest going back to the car when two things happened; Gendry turned the handle and opened the door, and he heard his radio crackle and his father's voice on the line.</p>
<p>"The serial killer Doctor Tywin Lannister caught has escaped. Check on him now," Captain Roose Bolton's voice boomed around them.</p>
<p>Ramsey looked at Gendry and gave him a firm nod as he brought out his pistol.</p>
<p>Gendry forcefully pushed through the door and started to sweep the presented hallway with the point of his gun.</p>
<p>"Doctor Lannister?" the young cadet yelled out before Ramsey grabbed his shoulder and pressed a finger to his own lips.</p>
<p>Gendry gave him an apologetic look as he followed his partner's lead in creeping through the large mansion.</p>
<p>After five minutes of searching room by room they found the study.</p>
<p>Ramsey, with hand gestures, indicated for Gendry to breach the room.</p>
<p>Which he did with the speed and precision of a fit young man. Ramsey entered a second after his partner and quickly cleared the room of any threats.</p>
<p>There were none in this room.</p>
<p>The walls were covered in bookshelves filled with books varying in sizes and colours. There were two cream couches in the middle of the room and a clear glass table in-between them. On the other side of the room there was a heavy desk that was covered in photos, papers and a knife. There was an unoccupied chair just beyond the desk.</p>
<p>Then he spotted the abnormally.</p>
<p>"Gendry," he whispered while pointing to the floor beside the desk.</p>
<p>There were photos, a broken glass and a hand protruding from behind the desk.</p>
<p>Gendry and Ramsey made their way carefully towards the desk, splitting up so they could converge from both sides.</p>
<p>Gendry reached the desk then peered around it with his gun out. After a second he placed his gun back in his holster.</p>
<p>"Ramsey it's Tywin Lannister," Gendry reached for the old man's neck, "phew he is still alive and from the smell of him he had had one too many."</p>
<p>Ramsey immediately took out his radio, "Captain Bolton, everything is fine here and we have secured the house. I repeat no activity here."</p>
<p>"Good, stay alert. <em>The Faceless One</em> escaped hours ago she could be anywhere."</p>
<p>Roose Bolton's dull tones rippled through the air even after Ramsey had turned his radio off.</p>
<p>"The <em>Faceless One</em> escaped," Ramsey murmured to himself as a plan started to form in his head while Gendry continued to fuss over Tywin's prone body.</p>
<p>"He is breathing normally but there is some bruising around his neck," Gendry said as he hovered over the slumbering man.</p>
<p>"Okay, help me get him up into his chair," Ramsey ordered, taking control of the situation.</p>
<p>He had made his decision on what to do next and in truth he had barely had to think about it, every fibre in his being was pushing him one way and Ramsey didn't have the capacity to resist.</p>
<p>A minute later they had managed to pull Tywin up onto his desk chair. The man didn't rouse once as he was manhandled.</p>
<p>"He is really out of it isn't he?" Gendry said a little worried.</p>
<p>"Some would say that he doesn't really want to be in this world anymore," Ramsey said sinisterly.</p>
<p>"Don't say that, suicide is never the answer," Gendry fiercely bit back picking up on Ramsey's dark tone.</p>
<p>"Oh your mum-"</p>
<p>"Yes," Gendry bit back, "my mum committed suicide so don't joke about it."</p>
<p>"I am sorry," Ramsey said smiling across at this partner who stood on the other side of the unconscious Tywin.</p>
<p>"You don't look sorry," Gendry said puzzled that his partner's words didn't match the expression on his face.</p>
<p>"I am never really sorry for anything I do," Ramsey shrugged as he quickly shot out one hand grabbing Gendry's collar and pulling him towards him while stabbing him with the knife he had picked up from the desk in his other hand multiple times so that the young cop's blood started to dribble down onto the unconscious Tywin's lap.</p>
<p>Ramsey after what felt like the thirtieth thrust of his knife pushed Gendry away so that he landed face up. His dark eyes stared at the ceiling but there was clearly no life left in them.</p>
<p>"Now it is time to have some real fun," Ramsey said playfully as he glanced at the still sleeping psychologist.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tywin woke up with a banging headache and for once he knew it wasn't alcohol induced, he kept his eyes closed as he tried to regain some inner calm before facing the world again.</p>
<p>His methodical mind reviewed the facts. A serial killer had come to his home, assaulted him and tried to kill him.</p>
<p>Why was he still alive then? Normally having a serial killer as a guest precipitated your own death.</p>
<p><em>What,</em> he thought violently as he tried to move his hands to touch the sore part of his throat but found them unresponsive.</p>
<p>He opened his eyes to see his wrists tied down with rope to the arms of his desk chair and blood covering his lap. Then he noticed that his desk wasn't in front of him, it was behind him and what he was staring at now was the glass table surrounded by the two cream coloured couches.</p>
<p>"It is confusing isn't it?" a deep voice echoed across the room, "One second you close your eyes the next you open them again and everything has changed."</p>
<p>Tywin strained his neck to find the source.</p>
<p>It was a small man browsing through his bookcases to his right. After a few more seconds of intense staring Tywin corrected himself.</p>
<p>It was the cop that was normally outside his house that was currently in his study while he was tied up. He wasn't in cop clothes anymore but a simple back outfit which highlighted his pasty white skin and red rimmed eyes.</p>
<p><em>Where is his partner?</em> Tywin thought but that question, he answered too as his eyes fell upon the bloodied remains of the handsome man he had refused to smile at the night before. His cane rested on the savaged mess that use to be the young man's torso.</p>
<p><em>This isn't good. He is BTK,</em> Tywin realised as his eyes fixated on the couch where he had found his daughter nearly headless.</p>
<p>The embers of rage where beginning to burn within him as the cogs in his mind continued to turn.</p>
<p><em>Another serial killer in my house,</em> Tywin thought as his eyes further scanned the room, <em>he is here so where is she</em>.</p>
<p>"There is no one else in the house. We won't be disturbed," Ramsey grinned as he walked towards Tywin with a large book in his hand, misunderstanding Tywin's searching look.</p>
<p><em>Had she truly left? Did she abandon me to be murdered by BTK?</em> Tywin questioned himself as Ramsey moved ever closer.</p>
<p>Tywin recognised the book the serial killer held as one he wrote on the psychology of the criminal mind. It was a thick book, it had taken years to research and publish.</p>
<p>"I am having a hard time commanding your <em>attention</em> it seems, which I'll be honest is a new experience for me but you are more experienced with serial killers than most I suppose," Ramsey said before slamming the book into Tywin's face a dozen times, "but I will have your <em>attention</em>."</p>
<p>"Do you understand?" Ramsey shouted in Tywin's face while tossing the book onto the glass table.</p>
<p>"Yes, I understand," Tywin spat out as he could feel the bruises forming around his face and the pain blossoming in his nose told him it might be broken.</p>
<p>"Good," Ramsey said in a polite tone as if he hadn't just beaten up the incapacitated man before him, "Because I am in control and I am in charge."</p>
<p>Ramsey clapped, "Now I normally blind my victims but with you we are going to do something special."</p>
<p>Tywin winced, <em>Special in this scenario was never good.</em></p>
<p>"I want you to visualise everything I am about to say as it is the truth."</p>
<p>When Tywin didn't reply, Ramsey kicked out with his foot on the other man's weakened leg.</p>
<p>Tywin grunted in pain but understood what Ramsey was after.</p>
<p>"Okay what do you want me to visualise?" Tywin said calmly, trying to figure out a way to survive this ordeal and giving Ramsey the direct attention he so obviously craved.</p>
<p>Ramsey smile was so wide that it basically cut his face in two.</p>
<p>"I want you to imagine your three beautiful grandchildren. They were playing a board game on this very table," Ramsey said as he touched the glass table where Tywin's book rested. "Then your son-in-law was reading the newspaper complaining about a recent loss of the Stags against the Lions which your daughter took exception too and I got to say their make-up sex must be amazing considering how fierce they are to one another."</p>
<p>Ramsey removed his hand from the table and flopped onto one of the couches.</p>
<p>"Then I came in, pointed my gun at Robert's head," Ramsey took out his gun from his pocket and pointed it to the ceiling, "Cersei gathered up her children and I told her to tie them up or I would shoot her husband. She complied and I got Robert to tie her hands too. Then I shot Robert in the head and my god the screams of your grandsons out did those of your daughter and granddaughter. They just screamed and screamed so I took the eldest boy and cut out his tongue."</p>
<p>Ramsey sat up quickly as if back in them moment and a knife had appeared in his hand.</p>
<p>"And then I decided I didn't want to see his scared eyes again so I stabbed them out," Ramsey said as he made quick dashing movements with the knife, "Your youngest grandson I think had pissed himself and was just rocking back and forth so I put him out of his misery by bashing his skull against the floor a few times. Was probably the best thing for him, he didn't look strong enough for this world."</p>
<p>Ramsey switched his focus from his hands to Tywin who was following every word of his story trying to stop the flashing images dancing across his brain, "Now your granddaughter was different she had this look in her eye, she was scared but she wasn't going to show it kinda look. I took the knife from my belt and I didn't stop stabbing until my arm hurt."</p>
<p>That broke Tywin, tough beautiful Myrcella being torn to pieces, "Stop … just stop."</p>
<p>"Where was the please?" Ramsey teased; he had no intention of stopping especially with this confirmation that it was getting under Tywin's skin.</p>
<p>"Throughout all of this your daughter had been sitting on this very couch just silently crying," Ramsey said while patting the couch he was currently sitting on, "I approached her with my bloody knife and she had the gall to say .. 'fuck you'. I had just murdered her entire family and she just insults me. What a woman. What a stunning woman. But I don't fare well with criticism or rudeness so I sat in her lap, I grabbed her beautiful blond hair in one hand and with the other I moved my knife over her throat so I could feel her warm blood spray onto my face." Ramsey made sure that Tywin was looking him, "Then I did it again and again until her head fell backwards. It was a pretty funny sight."</p>
<p>Ramsey hopped off the couch and started to walk slowly towards Tywin who was now looking at the floor.</p>
<p>"But you know, none of that satisfied me. I hadn't come for them. I had come for you and you weren't there," Ramsey screamed like a child denied their favourite toy to play with.</p>
<p>"But not to worry, all good things come to those that wait," Ramsey sniggered as he flung out a hand to pin Tywin's throat against the back of the chair and smiled down at his captive, "Now it is your turn. What should I do?"</p>
<p>Tywin remained silent; his mind was going over how each of his family members had died. He wasn't in his study not the current version of it anyway, he was reliving his family members final moments over and over again in his mind.</p>
<p>Until he felt excruciating pain in his hand.</p>
<p>He looked down and Ramsey had impaled it with his knife. Tywin looked from his torn hand to Ramsey he was slipping out another knife from his pocket as he slipped his gun in.</p>
<p>"Wait, wait, .. don't-"</p>
<p>Ramsey slammed the other knife down and now both Tywin's hands were in excruciating amounts of pain. He couldn't hold back the screams of pain now and with that release came the tears for his family.</p>
<p>"Finally," Ramsey exclaimed, "the great Doctor Tywin Lannister, afraid and crying. Broken."</p>
<p>That last word broke Tywin out of his haze of pain.</p>
<p>
  <em>Where was she? Where was the Faceless One?</em>
</p>
<p>Ramsey held a large kitchen knife out in-front of him as if admiring its beauty. A sickening feeling started to fester in Tywin's stomach as he saw Ramsey come towards him.</p>
<p>"Tell me, out of ten how painful this is for you?" Ramsey asked as he placed the tip of the knife at the point where Tywin's collar bone met his shoulder then pushed in inch by inch.</p>
<p>Tywin resisting grunts turned into full blown howls as pride was thrown to the wind in the face of such torture on his body.</p>
<p>"I think that might be a ten," came a silky voice from the doorway.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author Notes:</p>
<p>I know there was literally no Arya this chapter but I make up for that next chapter with some rocking Tywin/Arya scenes. It just felt like a natural place to have a break when Arya was just about to engage with Ramsey/BTK.</p>
<p>I have included the Baratheon family deaths RIP in this chapter as this is when I went into detail about those deaths as I wanted Ramsey to relive the moment with Tywin.</p>
<p>RIP</p>
<p>Gendry Waters (Knifed to death by Ramsey as he tended to Tywin)</p>
<p>Basically wrong time, wrong place, wrong partner … sorry Gendry hope you enjoyed your cameo :D</p>
<p>Robert Baratheon (Shot in the head by Ramsey a year ago)</p>
<p>Robert is maybe in his early forties here and still a massive guy so posed enough of a threat to Ramsey that he was the first to go. Ramsey is a small guy and hates commanding presences, like his own dad, and I think Robert had a commanding presence.</p>
<p>Joffrey Baratheon (Dies due to blood loss … due to Ramey tearing out his tongue and stabbing his eyes …)</p>
<p>In this universe Joffrey was not a douche and he ends up horrible murdered .. opps … In this story all the Baratheon children are Roberts. No twincest.</p>
<p>Tommen Baratheon (Ramsey smashed his head in)</p>
<p>I personally believe Tommen maybe reminded Ramsey of a younger version of himself trying to stand up to his dad but he grew up and out of his perceived weakness but he felt uncomfortable with that reminder of his past weakness so went for Tommen next.</p>
<p>Myrcella Baratheon (Stabbed multiple times by Ramsey)</p>
<p>I think she was a strong character and Ramsey didn't a like being challenged so she got a whole load of Ramsey's anger directed at her so that should explain the viciousness of the attack.</p>
<p>Cersei Baratheon (Head sawn off by Ramsey)</p>
<p>Pretty similar to Myrcella's really, Cersei challenged Ramsey and he doesn't like his control being challenged so she got a bit more of a personal murder.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Apex</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <em>A few seconds later …</em>
</p><hr/><p>Ramsey instantly grabbed for his gun that rested on the study desk and turned around to face the intruder.</p><p>Arya watched her fellow killer bring up his gun to face her as the sights of her own never left the sadistic killer's torso.</p><p>"Now, now, no need to go firing off loud shots," Arya warned, "Once we are done with each other the survivor still wants to play with the psychologist and that requires uninterrupted time."</p><p>"You can't have him, he is mine," Ramsey snapped back as he took up a defensive position behind Tywin while Arya did the same behind the frame of the couch.</p><p>"I am flattered," Tywin muttered, which earned him a smack on the back of the head that sent the world spinning for a few seconds and garnered excruciating pain from the three knife edges currently embedded in his body. He could feel his blood slowly seeping out him making him feel drowsy.</p><p>"I suggest we both put our guns down and turn this into a knife fight," Arya offered, knowing that the BTK killer favoured knives just as much as she did.</p><p>"I would like that," Ramsey said excitedly from just behind Tywin's shoulder.</p><p>"Me too," Arya said putting her gun on the glass table and bringing out her slim knife from her pocket.</p><p>They were both killers who liked to kill their prey up close.</p><p>She only rose from her position as she saw Ramsey place his gun on Tywin's study desk. He then pulled out one of his knives from Tywin's hand, which produced a singular cry of pain from the older man as the knife slid out his hand and the leather of the chair he had been tied to.</p><p>"Excellent," Arya said licking her lips while watching Ramsey slowly rumble towards her.</p><p>They started to circle the couches as they appraised each other. Both were small for their gender, both held wicked smiles on their face, and both brandished their knives like they knew how to use them.</p><p>Tywin watched fascinated; watching two serial killers interact was a treat for the academic inside him but it was also a reminder how much danger he was in as he watched Ramsey swiped out with his knife and force the <em>Faceless One</em> to jumped backwards.</p><p>She just chuckled in response, watching for her opponents next move.</p><p>Tywin experimentally flexed his unpinned hand and after the tremors of pain subsided, he was pleased to note he could still move it albeit with limited muscle flexibility.</p><p>He eyed his pinned hand and the blade that protruded from it.</p><p><em>This is really going to hurt,</em> he thought as he moved his free hand toward it and bit down with his teeth hoping to soften his anticipated groans of pain. He wanted his escape attempt to go unnoticed by the raging beasts in front of him.</p><hr/><p>Arya noted Ramsey's wide stance and the way he held his knife; he had clearly received some tuition on knife-to-knife combat.</p><p>Shame for him as Arya had also been taught how to handle a knife and she was sure her teachers had much more field experience than the local cop instructor. Still she had been taught to never underestimate her opponents either.</p><p>"So how many people have you killed," Arya flung out casually as Ramsey launched forward almost nicking Arya's neck but receiving an elbow to the face instead.</p><p>Ramsey wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he kept Arya in his sights, "I don't know, will have to check the file when I get back to work."</p><p>"You won't being going back to work," Arya grinned as she sprang into action, aiming a kick at Ramsey's head so he ducked into her follow up upper stab that caught him right in the torso.</p><p>If Arya was expecting that to be the finishing blow, she was mistaken as Ramsey ignored the pain and embedded his own knife into Arya's side.</p><p>Neither cried out in pain but stared coldly at the other as they both twisted their knives, they finally disengaged, staggering back from the other leaving their knifes where they were.</p><p>Bloodied knives were pulled from flesh with a few grunts exchanged between them.</p><p>Arya examined the blood on hers, "That wasn't in the plan."</p><p>Ramsey came at Arya, with one hand on his stab wound while wildly swiping with his other, determined to end this fight now he had been wounded.</p><p>Arya blocked but Ramsey institutively sought out her weakness and kneed Arya right where he had stabbed her earlier and managed to take advantage of the shock of pain that went through her to twist her fingers into dropping her knife.</p><p>To avoid the coming knife point Arya threw herself over the backboard of the couch, before she could regroup Ramsey appeared over her and pinned her down to the couch with his weight and brought his knife down with both hands.</p><p>Ramsey let out a yell of frustration as he saw his knife embed itself in the book, he had thrown on the glass table earlier, and not Arya's throat.</p><p>Arya twisted the book and broke Ramsey's hold on his knife and quickly threw the book away with the knife still in it. Ramsey landed a few good punches to Arya's face and when she brought up her hands to defend herself his fingers encircled her throat and applied pressure.</p><p>Arya didn't even try to break Ramsey's grip knowing he was going to be the stronger of the two, instead she started to punch where his stab wound was, hoping that the pain would make him release her.</p><p>After the fifth punch she realised that pain meant nothing to the monster crushing her windpipe. He seemed immune to feeling.</p><p><em>Shit,</em> Arya's brain yelped as it tried to think of what to do next when she heard metal sliding on wood then Tywin's voice shout, "Floor."</p><p>She flicked her eyes to the area in between the glass table and the couch she was currently being strangled on and saw the gleam of metal.</p><p>In the next instant Arya brought the knife up and stabbed Ramsey in his crotch area a few times before slipping away from the murderer and sitting on the glass table with her hand resting on the gun, she had placed there before the fight had begun.</p><p>Ramsey moaned on the couch as he turned his body to face the ceiling, his hands tried to cover his pierced groin area but the blood staining the cream sofa demonstrated the futility of that movement.</p><p>Arya whistled in relief at winning the fight. It seemed that her year spent in prison had dulled her killer instinct.</p><p>She looked down at the blood covered orange jumpsuit and the tear in it where she had been stabbed, "Well you were tougher than I thought you would be."</p><p>"Fucking bitch," Ramsey spat as he controlled the waves of pain racking his body, limiting his moans to mere grunts, "Finish me then."</p><p>"You aren't mine to finish," Arya said turning her head to see cut rope, discarded blood covered knives and an empty chair. Beyond that Tywin was sitting on the wooden floor just in front of his desk leaning back heavily on the dark wood with Ramsey's gun in his hand.</p><hr/><p>The man looked a wreck, his face was more black than pink, the deep pierce wound on his shoulder had produced so much blood one half of his previously light blue shirt was now dowsed in pure red as it had seeped down his torso, and the deep gashes in each of his hands were clearly limiting his use of them as one rested lightly on the floor in support of his body weight and the other was shaking as it fought to lift the gun in Ramsey's direction.</p><p>Ramsey saw what Arya saw and with one bloodied hand on the back of the couch dragged himself into a sitting position.</p><p>"Come on old man. Pull the fucking trigger," Ramsey baited.</p><p>Arya rose slowly, pocketing her gun and noting the tremble in Tywin's hand as he successfully raised the gun and pointed it at Ramsey.</p><p>She saw the rage and anger bounce around Tywin's busted up face, there was no doubting his conviction or want to pull the trigger and yet the bullets stayed in the gun.</p><p>"Ah," Arya realised the problem observing her host more closely, "You can't move your fingers anymore. Let me help you."</p><p>Arya ambled towards Tywin with knife in hand but he did nothing to stop her movement towards him. She slightly bent at the hip and placed her bloody covered knife wielding hand on Tywin's uninjured shoulder then wrapped her other small hand around his larger one that held the gun.</p><p>"This will hurt," Arya warned, taking in the damage to his hand.</p><p>"Everything already hurts," Tywin answered through his tunnel focus on Ramsey who was watching their exchange with dying interest.</p><p>Arya pressed down on Tywin's trigger finger and a bullet thudded in to Ramsey's chest.</p><p>The cold monster looked down at his chest as another bullet smashed into it, then another, then another.</p><p>The onslaught only finished when the click of an empty barrel could be heard. The gun dropped from Tywin's hand as he let his exhausted, beaten and bleeding body completely sink against the wooden front of his desk, releasing all the tension he had been holding.</p><hr/><p>Arya stood over Tywin, looking at the corpse of Ramsey. The force of the bullets had moved him so only his legs were now on the sofa and his head was resting on the floor.</p><p>"Thank you for the knife," Arya said placing the mentioned bloodied instrument on the study desk.</p><p>"Your welcome," Tywin acknowledged up to her, as if he had just opened a door and not been an accessory to a murder.</p><p>Arya gingerly wandered over to Ramsey and ripped the bottom of his black jumper then unzipped the top half of her orange jumpsuit to reveal a bloodied white tank top which she rolled up above her stab wound. The skin surrounding the wound was purple and the cut looked deep but she was used to self-treating such wounds.</p><p>Arya started to wrap the black material around it and tied it in a knot to hinder the flow of blood.</p><p>Tywin suddenly piped up moving a shaking hand to his bruised throat as if remember his current situation, "You presented me to him like a fucking gift, knowing he wouldn't question it."</p><p>"Yes," Arya said testing the knot before rolling her dirty tank top down and zipping her orange jump suit back up, "and he fell for it like the thoughtless animal he was."</p><p>Arya's eyes closed in on Ramsey's partner whose cooled body was still half visible behind Tywin's desk where his chair should have been.</p><p>She walked over to the savaged cop and examined his body, "Shame he was cute."</p><p>Tywin gave no response and Arya picked up the cane that had been placed over the ripped apart torso of the handsome cop, <em>probably would have ended up being a trophy,</em> Arya mused as she let the cane slide through her fingers so the bottom hit the floor before placing it on Tywin's desk alongside the knife.</p><p>"What happens now?" Tywin questioned as he watched Arya walk past him to behind the couch and pick up the slim knife, she had brought with her and place it carefully back in her pocket so it joined the gun she had pocketed earlier.</p><p>"I was hoping to talk to you further," Arya flicked he gaze towards Ramsey's bullet riddled corpse, "but <em>we</em> got rather carried away and those shots <em>we</em> fired will have the police on their way."</p><p>"Talk to me further?" Tywin repeated confused, "You don't intend on killing me now?"</p><p>Arya approached Tywin and slowly knelt, noting his lack of movement as she placed her fingers around the collar of his shirt and moved it to take a look at the wound on his shoulder.</p><p>Tywin gnashed his teeth together as the fabric of his shirt moved over the wound and Arya's probing fingers caressed the still slightly bleeding wound.</p><p>"You'll survive," Arya said once she was done inspecting the stab wound.</p><p>"Why?" Tywin tried again trying to get a straight answer as Arya wiped Tywin's blood off her fingers onto his suit trousers.</p><p>"I enjoy your company," on Tywin's disbelieving look she added, "Because you asked for my help in killing him, and because I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and broken things which you seem to be both right now."</p><p>"I asked for your help in <em>capturing</em> him not killing him," Tywin pointed out.</p><p>"Let's not get picky now," Arya said playfully.</p><p>Tywin was going to respond when the sound of sirens in the distance could be heard.</p><p>"Well that is my cue to leave," Arya sighed, "Until next time then."</p><p>"Next time?"</p><p>"BTK is no longer a problem for your family, you owe me a favour and I intend to collect at some point."</p><p>"You shot me in the leg," Tywin said exasperated, "I think you owed me a favour before tonight."</p><p>"You were trying to impede my freedom," Arya said equally as fiercely back, "and I ultimately saved your life that night so technically you owe me two favours."</p><p>"As I did tonight," Tywin fired back with intensity as he forgot what type of person he was speaking to.</p><p>"I would have killed him regardless of your intervention," Arya said confidently.</p><p>Tywin closed his eyes in frustration, arguing with a serial killer was tiring and combined with a serious amount of blood loss he didn't have the energy to continue the argument.</p><p>Neither did he have the energy to push Arya away when she planted her lips on his bruised ones then whispered into his ear, "Remember you asked for my help, I didn't ask for yours."</p><p>Tywin opened his eyes in shock as Arya hovered over him with a mischievous smile gracing her face, clearly enjoying confusing the famed psychologist who had facilitated her capture.</p><p>The woman was perplexing and intriguing when she really shouldn't be, Tywin couldn't help but feel that tug inside of him that made him want to understand her, to figure her out, to know her.</p><p>"See you around," Arya winked then in the blink of an eye she had retreated from the room leaving Tywin alone with his puzzled thoughts on her actions and the bodies of the men who had been tasked with protecting him.</p><p>Tywin emptied all thoughts of the bemusing and baffling serial killer from his mind and looked at the slumped corpse of Ramsey Bolton, the BTK killer. His eyes were lifeless and blood was spattered all over the young man and the room.</p><p>Tywin looked to the gun on the floor, if he had had the strength, he would have thrown it at the husk of evil that lay across from him but he settled on focusing on his thundering heartbeat.</p><p>It was good to know it was still working, the adrenalin of the kill was beginning to fade and the stab wounds to his hands and shoulder were radiating pain to join with the throbbing of his bruised face and broken nose.</p><p>He must look a mess but he was an alive mess thanks to or despite of the <em>Faceless One's </em>involvement.</p><p>He still wasn't really sure if he had been lucky to survive all he had or severely unlucky. He had cheated death three times now. He should have perished with his wife in that fateful fire seventeen years ago. He should have been slaughtered alongside his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren a year ago. The BTK killer should have finished the job today.</p><p>Yet here he was sucking in deep breaths through a broken nose and wondering what the <em>Faceless One</em> would do next.</p><p>It all seemed surreal, like a dream he should have woken up from ages ago but couldn't quite leave the fantasy to face real life. He was sure he was just an entertaining plaything to her and the thought wasn't as aversive to him as he thought it should be.</p><p>A few minutes later Tywin heard the cops rush into his house and readied himself for their inevitable questions.</p><p>But would he get an answer to his own question?</p><p>What would a high functioning psychopath who killed other murders and evil doers do with two favours from a burnt-out psychologist who was beginning the spiral into madness?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author Notes:</p><p>It feels a little new to me to write a Tywin Arya dynamic where Arya is mostly in control so let me know how that tone is hitting you, as I would like feedback on how I am doing with that as there aren't many other stories were I can compare this dynamic with so have no idea how I am doing.</p><p>Arya fulfilled her end of the bargain with Tywin and now has two favours from him or one depending on who you think won that argument, I wonder what she will want ….</p><p>In the next few chapters we will be exploring Tywin and Arya's backgrounds some more which should give good pointers to where this story is heading as their backgrounds .. shall we say intersect ;P</p><p>RIP</p><p>Ramsey Bolton AKA 'The BTK Killer' (Shot to death by Tywin and Arya)</p><p>It was really therapeutic kill for me and it might have been over the top but I think a fight between two serial killers should be dramatic as fuck and of course Arya was going to win it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Fathers and Sons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi,</p>
<p>WARNING: Discussion of suicide.</p>
<p>Winterfell, King's Landing, Casterly Rock (Capital cities) will be houses in this story, just FYI.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/>
<p>
  <em>A week later …</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tywin stood in the rain holding his black umbrella up against the barrage of rain pelting down from the sky.</p>
<p>His gaze was firmly stuck on the headstone in front of him. It read, <em>Here lies Cersei Baratheon, mother, wife, sister and daughter.</em></p>
<p>Her headstone was surrounded by four other ones that all had the Baratheon name chiselled into them. He didn't have the emotional capacity to face them all so he focused on his daughter for now.</p>
<p>"You are here," Tywin heard Jaime's voice behind him. He didn't turn around.</p>
<p>"It was time," Tywin said coldly.</p>
<p>"It is way past time," Tyrion chimed in as he came to a stop beside his father.</p>
<p>"Tyrion, let this be civil," Jaime pleaded as he laid down some flowers on Cersei's grave and Tywin noted his military attire.</p>
<p>"Civil? We were never civil when she was alive and I rather think she would hate the idea of us being civil to each other now," Tyrion replied taking a swig out off a golden hip flask.</p>
<p>Jaime straightened up and stood on his father's other side, "You discharged yourself this morning from the hospital. I thought we had agreed to pick you up."</p>
<p>"I wanted the fresh air," Tywin replied curtly.</p>
<p>Jaime looked his father up and down, his face still sported dark purple bruises, his left arm was in a sling, both hands were bandaged up and he was using his cane to support his stance in front of Cersei's grave.</p>
<p>"How long did the walk take you from the hospital?" Jaime enquired.</p>
<p>"I made it didn't I," Tywin shot back, a headache forming in his mind.</p>
<p>"Yes, and now you have killed BTK you can finally face your daughter and say goodbye, like you should have done over a year ago," Tyrion smarted.</p>
<p>Tywin contorted his face in anger at his son's words, he had no idea what is was like to carry the burden of responsibility for a loved one's death let alone four but he refused to sully his first visit to Cersei's grave with a futile argument with his youngest and besides deep down he knew Tyrin spoke the truth.</p>
<p>"You are right," Tywin settled on, "I should have come to the funerals."</p>
<p>"Excuse me?" Tyrion said shocked he had managed to elicit such a confession from his father.</p>
<p>"I made it about me, about getting revenge," Tywin switched his focus from the headstone and looked at both of his sons, "I should have been at their funeral."</p>
<p>"You got him in the end though," Jaime said behind hooded eyes, "You avenged her and that was the best outcome we could have hoped for."</p>
<p>The statement Tywin had given the police had been faithful to the true account of what had happened up until the point the <em>Faceless One</em> had helped him pull the trigger. He had stated after stabbing Ramsey in the groin she had fled the room thereby he was concealing all that had happened between them after that moment. As far as everyone was aware, he had pulled the trigger and killed BTK on his own and that was how Tywin intended the story to stay. The truth was far too confusing and dubious.</p>
<p>Tywin's pondering was interrupted as Jaime checked his watch, "I need to get back to base."</p>
<p>"You being deployed again?" Tyrion asked.</p>
<p>"Later today," Jaime said giving his father a concerned look.</p>
<p>"Don't worry brother I will make sure Father doesn't wander off again."</p>
<p>"Goodbye Father," Jaime said dragging the elder Lannister into a careful hug which Tywin, after a second, gave into, allowing his son's arms to wrap around him.</p>
<p>Tyrion watched as his brother left him alone with their father, he saw the tremble in the bandaged hand, the vein throbbing on his father's forehead. He knew what those signs meant.</p>
<p>He raised his hip flask up in one hand as he held his umbrella in the other.</p>
<p>It was an offering from one addict to another, and maybe a peace offer from son to father.</p>
<p>Tywin noted the movement, took the hip flask and let the liquid run down his throat. The sensation calmed the beating headache and he returned the flask to his son who took a large gulp before pocketing it once again.</p>
<p>"What are you going to do now?" Tyrion asked focusing on Cersei's headstone.</p>
<p>Tywin sighed, the only thing that had kept him alive this past year was the thought of avenging Cersei and now he had done that.</p>
<p>"I will go to Winterfell."</p>
<p>"Winterfell … the Stark's lodge you renovated? Why go there?"</p>
<p>"Peace and quiet."</p>
<p>Tyrion looked down to the floor, shuffled his feet nervously then walked in front of his father blocking his view to Cersei's headstone, "A place where a dozen people burned to death is a curious place to seek out peace and quiet. If Jaime visits you and finds you with your brains blown out it will destroy him so if you have any notion of finding peace and quiet in a less than natural way, don't do it. I know you weren't there to see it but losing Cersei and the children nearly broke him, losing you might finish the job."</p>
<p>Tywin fixed his eyes on his youngest, he was always the most perceptive of his children. Tywin opened his mouth but seemed to retract the words before they could be voiced.</p>
<p>Tyrion took this cue to continue and looked up to his Father's still bruised face, "I don't like you and you don't like me but we both love Jaime. So, find a way to lock those demons of your down and live for him. Drink, fuck, chase <em>your</em> serial killer, whatever floats your boat but live."</p>
<p>After a near minute of an intense stare off Tywin nodded slightly but firmly stated, "I am still going to Winterfell."</p>
<p>Tywin turned from Tyrion and with the use of his cane limped away from his son with a new line of thought forming in his mind.</p>
<p>
  <em>Where was his serial killer?</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>Same time ..</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Apartment over looking the Port of Bravoos, City of Barvoos, West side of Essos</strong>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Arya sat near the open window, taking in the glorious sun of a lovely Bravoosi afternoon. She looked down from the window she was perched at. It overlooked the docks of the Free City. The workers below all looked like ants, working in tandem to achieve a higher purpose, passing boxes between them, shouting instructions to each other and unloading cargo here and there.</p>
<p>Arya's eyes swept around the apartment she had broken into. The owners were on holiday but they clearly had good taste. The small apartment had been furnished well with a pallet of cream and light brown dominating all around.</p>
<p>She swivelled on her chair to face the docks again and she noted her target appearing out of one of the cargo ships.</p>
<p>
  <em>Go time.</em>
</p>
<p>Arya brought her sniper rifle up to rest on the frame of the window as she adjusted her sights and watched the potbellied man walk down the pier yelling at various people as he went.</p>
<p>Arya lined up her sights, "Goodnight<em>"</em>, and she pulled the trigger.</p>
<p>She had already begun packing up the gun as the panicked screams reached her ears. Arya didn't need to look through the window to know her target was dead.</p>
<p>A minute later she was walking briskly down the stairway of the apartment complex and out onto the streets of Bravoos, gently rubbing the area of her side where the healing stab wound was stitching itself back together. On her shoulder she held what appeared to be a cello case on her shoulder and she observed everything from behind her dark sunglasses as she traversed across the hustling streets to the nearby airport.</p>
<p>This kill had been the last of her repayments to the organisation known as the House of Black and White for their help in breaking her out of prison. Now she was free to resume her activities in Westeros and she knew where she was going to start.</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>A few days later …</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Winterfell (Large Lodge), in the Wilderness of the North</strong>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tywin sipped on the amber liquid and relished in the burning sensation that trailed down his throat as he watched the snow fall through the window in the morning light of a sun trying its best to break through the fluffy clouds.</p>
<p>He turned away from the harsh reality of winter in the North and limped towards the crackling fire, finishing his glass of whiskey as he went.</p>
<p>He was taking the first part of Tyrion's advice to heart as he eyed the half empty whiskey bottle that sat on the table beside one of the arm chairs facing the fire, as he didn't think he would have much luck with fucking away his problems or chasing down the <em>Faceless One</em>. He wasn't as young as he once was and he didn't have the energy required to get into the <em>Faceless One's</em> head and track her down. It was more likely she would chase him down and that was indeed the reason why he had come to the most isolated of all the properties he owned.</p>
<p>He was waiting for her.</p>
<p>The fall out of Ramsey Bolton's reveal of being BTK had only just begun to fade in the national news cycle, not that Tywin kept up with the news or watched TV. He was completely done with the whole debacle of the BTK killer. His focus was solely on another serial killer now.</p>
<p>Tywin refilled his glass and slumped into one of the fire facing arm chairs. He took his mind back to the conversation he had had with Tyrion. Of course, his youngest had been right in his ultimate intentions for coming to Winterfell but he could never leave this world without settling all his debts and he still owed a pretty large one to the <em>Faceless One</em>.</p>
<p>Tywin glanced around the renovated lodge, eyeing the large wooden beams that held the place together, the fur rugs that adorned most of the floor and the stag antlers that hung on the walls, the endless dark corridors that splintered off to various unused rooms. It was cosy in a sort of primal way and the heat of the fire sent a warm tinge to all corners of the lodge.</p>
<p>Tywin had wanted it this way, so it was as close to the original as possible.</p>
<p>The original lodge had been burnt to the ground near fourteen years ago, along with nearly every single member of the Stark family. There had been one survivor. An Arya Stark if Tywin remembered correctly who had disappeared into obscurity after the loss of her family so that most people forgot she even existed.</p>
<p>Tywin had attempted to track down the sole surviving Stark and reveal the truth of that night but each attempt had ended in failure. No one knew where Miss Arya Stark had gotten to and over the years, he had stopped his attempts at contact. He knew deep down that the idea to contact her was fuelled by a selfish desire to unburden himself so he resigned himself to dying with his <em>secret </em>alone.</p>
<p>Tywin had bought the house and its grounds a few months after the fire and renovated it back to its former glory as a penance for his role in its burning, like that would somehow paper over what had truly happened and absolve him of his costly mistake.</p>
<p>Being here wasn't an idyllic escape into nature or gentle isolation until he was hunted down, but a prison he had locked himself in with his past mistakes because no one else had done so. But he had the ability to release himself and make it all go away. He was just waiting for one final visitor to arrive.</p>
<p>And as if on cue there was a knock at the front door.</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>Same time ..</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>A mile from Winterfell</strong>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Arya waded through the large snow drifts, eyeing the icy forest that surrounded her.</p>
<p>"Here girl," she yelled before whistling into the whiteness.</p>
<p>A thunderous growl alerted her to the large beast that trod forward from the concealing leaves of the forest.</p>
<p>The eyes of the large wolf were feral and the bearing teeth where razor sharp.</p>
<p>Arya made no move to release the rifle on her back but stuck out a hand.</p>
<p>"I know it has been a while, but it is me girl."</p>
<p>The four-legged beast stalked towards her outstretched hand. It sniffed the air then pushed its huge face into the small hand.</p>
<p>Arya patted the wolf and embraced it, "Nymeria how I have missed you."</p>
<p>"Let's go home girl," Arya said warmly as she kept her hand stroking the cheek of her former pet.</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>A few seconds later ..</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Winterfell</strong>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tywin placed his tumbler down beside the whiskey bottle and with the help of his cane he pushed himself into a standing position and made his way towards the door.</p>
<p>He could only imagine one visitor standing on the other side. He opened the door and his face belayed his surprise.</p>
<p>Standing there was a man in his middle fifties, with a line on his face for a smile and a cold look in his eye.</p>
<p>"Mr Lannister?" the waiting man said noting the arm sling and the healing bruises on his face.</p>
<p>"Doctor Lannister actually."</p>
<p>"I am Howland Reed; I am a detective on the BTK case. I was wondering if I could come in and confirm a few of your statements."</p>
<p>Tywin took a beat and looked at the parked four by four near his own, it didn't bear any resemblance to a police vehicle but he guessed detectives would want a more subtle ride that didn't announced their presence.</p>
<p>"Of course, Detective," Tywin said waving the policeman through the doorway, "Please sit down. Would you like a drink?"</p>
<p>"Tea please," came the sharp reply.</p>
<p>Tywin limped past the detective as the man took in the size and design of the lodge.</p>
<p>"This is the place that burnt down years ago isn't it?" Tywin heard behind him as he set out make a cup of tea in the small kitchen area that was side-on to the lounge room with the roaring fire and armchairs.</p>
<p>"Yes, I rebuilt it," Tywin threw over his shoulder as he manoeuvred around the kitchen with his arm in the sling and his other hand on his cane.</p>
<p>"That was a shame what happened to the Starks."</p>
<p>"Yes, it was," Tywin said keeping his responses short.</p>
<p>He turned around with the hot cup in his hand to be immediately faced by the cold looking detective.</p>
<p>"Your tea," Tywin offered leaning back on the counter to offset the lack of support from his cane as he held the cup out.</p>
<p>"You aren't joining me?" Reed said as he took the hot beverage.</p>
<p>Tywin pointed to the whiskey bottle, "I like something stronger."</p>
<p>The balding man nodded in understanding and followed Tywin back to the fire where they both occupied an armchair each. Tywin rested his cane on the arm then looked to his visitor before filling up the empty glass beside him and starting the fourth whiskey tumbler of the morning.</p>
<p>"So, Detective how can I help you?"</p>
<p>Reed watched as the man opposite him sipped from the glass of whiskey as if it was water, "I think this might go smoother if you remained sober Doctor Lannister."</p>
<p>"Well you better hurry up and ask your questions then," Tywin muttered as he continued to enjoy the amber liquid pouring down his throat.</p>
<p>The detective shot him an annoyed look but took out a notebook, "You said that after BTK stabbed the Faceless One she bolted then you shot him six times emptying the chamber of the gun."</p>
<p>Tywin nodded lazily as the detective blew on the tea and took a tentative sip.</p>
<p>"Well why didn't you also shoot the <em>Faceless One</em> before she escaped, you had the gun right?"</p>
<p>"Yes, but my hands," Tywin brought his free hand up to reveal the bandage, "were hindered. I wasn't quick enough to point and shoot a moving target but Ramsey Bolton was just withering on the couch. Practically stationary."</p>
<p>"If he was incapacitated why did you shoot him?" Reed asked with an edge in his tone.</p>
<p>"Incapacitated," Tywin scoffed, "Even an injured monster is still a monster."</p>
<p>"You shot him six times. Overkill don't you think?"</p>
<p>The accusation was clear; <em>you killed a man when you didn't have to.</em></p>
<p>"No, not particularly. He was a serial killer," Tywin leaned forward, "Tell me Detective what do you think drove Ramsey Bolton to start killing, to incapacitate his victims, torture then until they begged for death, then ruthlessly dispatch them."</p>
<p>"You are the psychologist not me," Reed said taking another sipped of the tea.</p>
<p>"Ah but you are the Detective and I am technically retired."</p>
<p>"I am not here to discuss the motives behind why he did what he did, I am here to establish the facts of your statement."</p>
<p>"You aren't here for that, Detective," Tywin said confidently as he put down the empty whiskey glass.</p>
<p>"What am I here for?"</p>
<p>"To understand why <em>your son</em> turned into a rampaging serial killer would be my educated guess," Tywin stated watching the other man closely.</p>
<p>Roose Bolton stiffened in his chair halfway through a gulp of his tea. He swallowed down the warm mouthful and gave Tywin a cutting glare. He put the cup of tea down, removed his gun from its holster and placed it on the side table, pointing at the crippled psychologist.</p>
<p>"You know who I am?"</p>
<p>"I knew who you were before your son tried to kill me. Many of my profiles helped you catch various criminals and I liked to keep an eye on how the cases would develop."</p>
<p>"Why do you think my son turned into a monster?" Roose asked curious of the renowned psychologist's opinion.</p>
<p>"Because you moulded him into one."</p>
<p>Roose glanced at his gun, "Be careful Doctor Lannister, I am not known for my patience."</p>
<p>"No, you are known for being a cold efficient captain that gets the job done no matter what. I am guessing at home you let your more controlling and dark impulses take over. Did you smack little Ramsey around? Did you tell him how pathetic and unworthy he was?"</p>
<p>"I made him stronger. No son of mine was going to be weak."</p>
<p>They settled in silence for a moment as both men looked at the crackling fire.</p>
<p>"They suspended me, took my gun and badge while an investigation is conducted on my involvement in my son's killings," Roose brushed his hand over his face, the heat of the fire was making him sweat, "I am going to kill you now."</p>
<p>"You would be the first name on the list of suspects."</p>
<p>"The gun is untraceable and so is the car," Roose said loosening his tie and collar.</p>
<p>"You planned to kill me," Tywin surmised watching the beads of sweat roll down the disgraced Detective's face.</p>
<p>Roose nodded as he rose from the armchair, he found his ascent was slower than normal and when he looked for his gun he saw two instead of one resting on the table. He reached out for one or both but felt his body faulter and he tumbled to the ground knocking the table with his gun over. He looked to Tywin, the man hadn't moved as he had wobbled to the floor and was just watching him flail on the floor, like a fish on land.</p>
<p>"What did you do to me?" Roose snarled, now seeing two Tywin Lannisters as they rose from the one chair and advanced on his position.</p>
<p>The sound of the cane striking the wood was deafening to him as he scrambled around on the floor to find his gun. When he saw it, he reached out but the golden bottom of Tywin's cane smacked the gun out of his reach.</p>
<p>Tywin looked down at the panting man who now laid on his side, "The tea."</p>
<p>Roose tried to vocalise what his mind was screaming but he couldn't do anything other than shake and take in shallow breaths.</p>
<p>"Funny how fate works, you came here today to kill me and instead I killed you," Tywin stood over the seizing Roose Bolton shrugging his arm out of the sling and placing both hands on the top of his cane, "I know what a monster looks like, your son was a monster, and monsters are created not born. You made him into a monster with your abuse, it is obvious you terrorised that poor boy so much he became what frightened him the most. You."</p>
<p>"You … won't get away … with this," Roose gasped.</p>
<p>"Why not? I have before," Tywin revealed as Roose fully collapsed to the ground gurgling with froth at his mouth.</p>
<p>After another minute Tywin knelt down with the support of his cane to check the former policeman's pulse, it was non-existent.</p>
<p><em>Good,</em> Tywin thought as he felt the cold breeze at this back.</p>
<p>He turned to see Arya standing in the door way with a large wolf by her side, she was watching Tywin intently, "You just keep getting more and more interesting each time I see you."</p>
<p>"I was referring to Ramsey Bolton," Tywin quickly shot out to conceal the true meaning behind his spoken words, knowing the serial killer's penchant for targeting those that harmed others.</p>
<p>"No, you weren't," Arya easily cut through the lie as she lifted her hand from the fur of her companion releasing the furry beast towards Tywin.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author Notes:</p>
<p>Tywin is a bit suicidal; he is struggling with the loss of his family (wife, daughter, grandchildren) and some of his past actions that seem to be entangled with the fire that destroyed Winterfell and Arya's entire family …. But don't worry maybe Tyrion knocked some sense into him and he still owes a debt to Arya and if there is one thing we know about Lannisters it is that they always pay their debts.</p>
<p>How long until Arya finds out about Tywin's past misdeeds? Especially since they concern the deaths of her family.</p>
<p>If it wasn't clear, Arya vanished from Westeros society after the fire that killed her entire family and then ended up being trained at the House of Black and White.</p>
<p>I know Nymeria appearing out of nowhere was kind of random but I want an Arya Nymeria reunion so it happened XD</p>
<p>Guesses for who Tywin has killed in the past?</p>
<p>RIP</p>
<p>Captain Roose Bolton (Tywin poisoned him with hemlock in his tea)</p>
<p>This was a case of I am going to kill you before you kill me scenario and Tywin came out on top. Roose was the inspiration and trigger for Ramsey's killings as had been abusive his entire childhood but he, in the end, didn't know what his son was doing. He came after Tywin because he blamed him for his suspension due to Ramsey's capture which would have ended his career.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Truth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi,</p>
<p>This chapter is a rollercoaster, enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/>
<p>
  <em>A few seconds later …</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tywin stood back from Roose's body as Arya and Nymeria advanced into the room. The wolf backed him into one of the arm chairs, forcing him to sit down with his cane in-between his legs as Arya went to investigate the body.</p>
<p>"Well he is definitely dead," Arya confirmed hovering over the sadistic police captain, lifting one eye lid then the next, "poison."</p>
<p>"That was my intention," Tywin replied trying his best to ignoring the snarling beast, who's head was practically resting in his lap.</p>
<p>"How many people have you killed?" Arya asked placing her backpack on the ground.</p>
<p>"One," Tywin looked down at Roose, "Two. Maybe two and a half if you count Ramsey."</p>
<p>"Tell me<em> Doctor</em>, did your first deserve their death?" Arya inquired rummaging around in her backpack.</p>
<p>"He did," Tywin answered wondering what Arya was doing but unwilling to challenge the wolf in front of him to get a better view.</p>
<p>"Well I will take your word, for now," Arya said spinning around with a cloth in one hand and a bottle in the other, "but we will be discussing this further."</p>
<p>Tywin smelt the sweet scent in the air, <em>Chloroform</em>.</p>
<p>"You have made a mess and these types of messes are best cleaned up as soon as possible but I don't quite trust you on your own, after all you are a murderer," Arya all but chuckled.</p>
<p>Tywin didn't deny the charge as he tried to think of an argument which would convince the young woman to let him remain conscious but he ran out of time as she circled behind the chair looping her cloth wielding hand over his face and pressing down as he briefly tried to fight her grip. After a few intakes of breath, he was sleeping soundly in the chair.</p>
<p>Arya turned her attention to Nymeria who had backed away to lie down on the bear rug near the fire. She put two fingers near her eyes then flicked them to the slumbering psychologist, "You keep an eye on him."</p>
<p>Arya walked up to Rooses body, "Let's get started then."</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>Roughly Nineteen hours later …</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tywin woke up in the armchair with one hand dangling over the edge. He blinked a few times. The world was slightly fuzzy as he lifted his head to look around, he didn't see a body on the floor anywhere.</p>
<p>
  <em>Maybe I dreamt all that?</em>
</p>
<p>He attempted to right himself in the chair when he found his dangling hand resting on something warm and soft.</p>
<p>He looked over the arm to see Nymeria gently snoring beside his chair. Tywin swore internally, <em>not a dream then.</em></p>
<p>Tywin brought his hands to his face and massaged his whole head as he tried to dispel the dizziness of the chloroform. He looked at his Rolex, it was 5.47am. Roose Bolton had visited him in the later morning .. yesterday. He had been unconscious for nearly twenty-four hours.</p>
<p>
  <em>Wait, where was the Faceless One?</em>
</p>
<p>Suddenly his panicking mind was assaulted with the smell of bacon, eggs .. and burning. He quickly located his cane by the foot of the chair and rushed as fast as he could to the kitchen, mindful to avoid the snoozing wolf.</p>
<p>He came to stop at the open arc leading to the kitchen. The petit serial killer was at the stove frying what Tywin could only identify as scrambled eggs.</p>
<p>She turned around and flashed him a grin, "Hope you don't mind, disposing of a body is hungry work."</p>
<p>Before Tywin could reply, the toast popped. It was dark brown and smoking.</p>
<p>That was the source of the burning smell, Tywin let his heartrate relax slightly but not totally, there was still a serial killer in his kitchen and a wild wolf snoring in his lounge.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Tywin sat at the small kitchen table and munched into the dark browned toast as he watched the famed serial killer pour him a cup of tea.</p>
<p>"Don't worry I didn't put anything in it," Arya commented as she placed the tea pot on the table and took up a position leaning back on the counter observing her host, "I prefer knives to poison, more intimate. What did you use anyway?"</p>
<p>"Water Hemlock," Tywin grunted as he swallowed another piece of toast, giving his mind a few more seconds to contemplate the situation and try to mentally place where all the knives where in his kitchen.</p>
<p>"I would have used cyanide, its quicker, Bolton could have shot you before the hemlock took effect."</p>
<p>"I will defer to your expertise in the matter," Tywin half scoffed as he sipped on the tea.</p>
<p>Arya took up the chair opposite Tywin so that their legs could touch under the table.</p>
<p>Tywin continued to feed his empty stomach as he started on the eggs, "Where did you put Roose's body?"</p>
<p>"In the backyard, it took me a few hours to dig a hole deep enough but with the constant snow and ice I don't think it will be a problem in the future and don't worry about the car I drove it deep into the woods then jogged back," Arya answered watching Tywin closely.</p>
<p>"His gun?" Tywin asked being thorough.</p>
<p>"With the body," Arya murmured as if it was obvious.</p>
<p>Tywin started to cut the bacon when something between a whine and a howl caught his attention.</p>
<p>He looked down to his left and saw Nymeria's attempt at puppy dog eyes. They were terrifying. Tywin placed his plate on the ground and as soon as it touched the stone kitchen floor Nymeria was attacking it like the pieces of bacon where about to run away.</p>
<p>"That was nice," Arya said having observed the gesture.</p>
<p>"I think it would have torn my face off if I hadn't," Tywin said switching his attention from the massacre on the floor to Arya's concentrated expression.</p>
<p>"Not without my say so <em>she </em>wouldn't have," Arya replied with a twinkle in her eye.</p>
<p>Tywin clasped his hands together on the table, "Why are you here?"</p>
<p>"To collect on a favour, you owe me."</p>
<p>Tywin let his fingers tap the top of his cane to release some of his impatient energy and test his fingers flexibility, "What do you want?"</p>
<p>Arya ignored Tywin's question, "Interesting choice to buy and renovate a house where an entire family burnt to death."</p>
<p>"Is it?" Tywin deflected.</p>
<p>"Yes, some might say you were trying to relief some type of guilty conscious."</p>
<p>"I didn't burn down Winterfell," Tywin deadpanned.</p>
<p>"I know, Aerys Targaryen did," Arya looked at Tywin, "and by your muted expression you already knew that."</p>
<p>"How did you know?" Tywin asked, not bothering to conceal his secret anymore.</p>
<p>"I saw him that night watching the flames as I crawled out of the window," Arya pointed towards one of the lounge windows, "just there. I was so terrified I just ran into the woods. A ranger found me the next day just shaking underneath a Weirwood tree."</p>
<p>"You are Arya Stark?" Tywin exclaimed in disbelief.</p>
<p>Arya nodded, enjoying the shock of the moment dissipate in Tywin's face.</p>
<p>"Why didn't you tell anyone that it was him?"</p>
<p>"Why didn't you?" Arya accused immediately but upon seeing Tywin remain tight-lipped she answered, "I was a traumatised child; I couldn't process what I saw. But when he went missing his picture was everywhere. I recognised him then as being the one that I saw outside my house but no one could find him. He had gone on the run."</p>
<p>"Now you want to track him down?" Tywin murmured more to himself than Arya.</p>
<p>"Yes, and who better to start with than his best friend and psychologist."</p>
<p>The implication behind Arya's words made Tywin snap his head up, "You think I helped him disappear?"</p>
<p>"What are friends for?" Arya said menacingly.</p>
<p>"I didn't-" Tywin couldn't finished his sentence as Arya had launched herself over the table and wrestled him from the chair to the ground with Nymeria's warning growls in the background mingling with the sound of his cane hitting the floor and rolling away.</p>
<p>In the next instant Arya was straddling Tywin with a sharp looking knife in her hand and it was coming down at his throat.</p>
<p>"Miss Stark," Tywin said with urgency as he held out his bandaged hands in surrender but the knife kept coming down, "Miss Stark please let me explain," he all but shouted as he felt cold metal touch his throat.</p>
<p>Tywin looked directly up into Arya's grey eyes, "Is this your preferred way of questioning suspects?"</p>
<p>"I am a serial killer I don't have suspects, I have victims," Arya replied with a deadly gleam in her eye.</p>
<p>"I didn't help Aerys set the fires or escape," Tywin said up to her, controlling his breathing.</p>
<p>"Why did you buy and renovate Winterfell then?" Arya growled moving her free hand to rest on Tywin's shoulder where she knew Ramsey had injured him, "That is a guilty conscious move if ever there was one."</p>
<p>Tywin couldn't keep the guilt from his face and Arya pushed on his shoulder.</p>
<p>Tywin groaned as he kept his head still, fearful the knife would nick his neck if he moved.</p>
<p>"Tell me the truth Doctor, or I am going to hurt you more than Ramsey ever did."</p>
<p>Tywin took a long shaking breath, "I may not have set the fire or helped Aerys but I feel responsible for the deaths of your family. I should have seen Aerys for what he was. A monster. But I didn't because I didn't want to see it. He was my best friend."</p>
<p>"You think I care about your sympathy and attempts at redemption? I want Aerys, where is he?"</p>
<p>"He is dead," Tywin gasped out, under Arya's pressure on his shoulder wound.</p>
<p>Arya released her grip on Tywin's shoulder and the knife inched away from his throat in realisation at what his words really meant, "Aerys was your first."</p>
<p>"Yes," Tywin puffed.</p>
<p>"You killed him," Arya clarified for herself.</p>
<p>"After the Targaryen fire, Aerys wanted therapy to get over his loss and since I had also lost someone in the same fire, I thought it could be beneficial to us both."</p>
<p>"You are a psychologist," Arya muttered down to him resting both hand on his chest.</p>
<p>"Yes, but he didn't request me to help him get over his grief, he requested me so he could watch me wallow in mine," Tywin said with a tinge of fury in his voice as he remembered those sessions, "I knew Aerys was always … different but I just couldn't see him killing his entire family and my wife. I thought it was a tragic accident. He was my best friend … and then the Stark fire happened. He bounced into my office the day after the happiest I had ever seen him and it all clicked in to place."</p>
<p>"So, what did you do?" Arya asked as she shifted into a more upright position on Tywin's torso.</p>
<p>"I asked him to meet me here, at the scene of his latest crime. The arrogant asshole came. I asked him point blank if he had set the fire here. He admitted he had with no shame, I didn't even have to ask him if he set the fire that killed his entire family and my wife, he proudly said he had," Tywin's voice broke, "that all he wanted was to watch everything burn … I lost it. I went for him. I strangled him to death …. It wasn't hard."</p>
<p>Arya nodded trying to imagine the scene, "Where is his body?"</p>
<p>"I buried him out in the woods," seeing Arya's next question, "No I can't show you where and the animals will have had him by now."</p>
<p>"Did you enjoy killing Aerys?" Arya said replacing her knife back in her belt.</p>
<p>Tywin looked up confused at Arya, he was even more confused when her hands slid around his throat.</p>
<p>"Did you enjoy strangling the life out of him," Arya pressed down gently on Tywin's throat, "Did you enjoying how he struggled and flailed?"</p>
<p>"He killed my wife and had the gall to watch me grieve while knowing he was the one that had taken her from me," Tywin said in an angry tone as Arya captured his eyes with her own, "Of course I enjoyed it."</p>
<p>"So, you know what you took from me," Arya said digging her thumbs into his Adam's apple, "I had been looking forward to getting my revenge for fourteen years and now I can't have it."</p>
<p>"I am sorry," Tywin managed to pant out as he began feeling his airways being constricted but still, he didn't try to fight Arya.</p>
<p>Then the pressure vanished.</p>
<p>Tywin brought a bandaged hand to his throat, the skin was sore, "I don't think strangulation is your MO, would you like to try the knife?"</p>
<p>"No," Arya said rather subdued as she remained on top of him.</p>
<p>"You aren't going to kill me then?" Tywin hesitantly asked as he tried to understand the situation, he was now in.</p>
<p>"You ask that question a lot."</p>
<p>"I have been in your company a lot," Tywin shot back.</p>
<p>"I kill people who deserve death," Arya locked eyes with Tywin, "You don't deserve it."</p>
<p>"I should have stopped Aerys before he killed your family."</p>
<p>"It wasn't your fault," Arya said softly, "and you avenged them."</p>
<p>And with those words Tywin felt a huge burden leave his shoulders, he closed his eyes as he felt the cooling sensation of relief flow throughout his body.</p>
<p>He was only brought back to the moment when a small hand cupped his chin.</p>
<p>"Doctor," Arya purred, "Follow me."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author Notes:</p>
<p>In this chapter a lot gets revealed and it took pure stubbornness and mental gymnastics to pack it all in so I hope the chapter worked well because I don't think I can get it any better.</p>
<p>I don't know if the Arya/Tywin moment coming next chapter was expected or not but I hope the last bit of this chapter did a good job hyping it up/setting it up, if not sorry I am an author in training still.</p>
<p>RIP</p>
<p>Aerys Targaryen (Tywin strangled him to death roughly thirteen years ago)</p>
<p>Aerys was a psychopathic arsonist (much like his counterpart in G.O.T) and he burnt down his own family house, with his entire family in it, then a few years later he burnt down Winterfell with all the Starks in it but Arya manged to escape out a window and saw Aerys watching the flames, he didn't see her though. Tywin realised what Aerys had done after the Stark fire, lured him to the burnt-out ruins of Winterfell then strangled him after he confessed and disposed of his body.</p>
<p>Tywin has carried around this secret and the shame of not stopping Aerys sooner and that has eaten away at him for fourteen years, this combined with the BTK killings of Cersei and his grandchildren have left him a bit … I would say tired with life but not mentally unstable as he is still calculating and highly functioning.</p>
<p>Arya all this time had been training with the House of Black and White, grieving in her own special way of killing people who deserve death trying to find out where Aerys disappeared too then when Tywin came to visit her and ask for her help she figured out his connection to Aerys, then went after him to see if he had any information on Aery's whereabouts.</p>
<p>*Deep breath* However, now the truth is out and Arya forgives Tywin and she revealed who she really was things are about to change :D</p>
<p>Next Up: Arya and Tywin work through their emotional traumas … it will be smut so if you don't like that just skip the next chapter :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Second Favour</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello,</p>
<p>I feel a bit shitty for not announcing this last chapter but this is the final chapter of Madness!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/>
<p>
  <em>A few seconds later …</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Doctor," Arya called behind her as she entered into the lounge and poured one glass of whiskey.</p>
<p>Tywin rolled over from his back and crawled a metre to reach his cane before pushing himself into a standing position.</p>
<p>He looked to the lounge; the fire's glow was still illuminating the room giving it a warm feeling.</p>
<p>Nymeria watched him all the way as he walked into the longue before laying down in the corner of the kitchen content to drift off to sleep knowing that Tywin was no threat to her companion.</p>
<p>Tywin walked towards Arya who had a full glass of whiskey in one hand and the bottle in the other. She took a swig of the bottle, before making a face.</p>
<p>"It isn't to everyone's tastes," Tywin remarked as he got closer.</p>
<p>Arya held out the glass which Tywin took lightly in his hand.</p>
<p>"Sit," Arya commanded as she placed the bottle back on the side table.</p>
<p>Tywin did as he was bid but couldn't completely hide his irritation at being directed so sharply.</p>
<p>His irritation turned to slight shock as Arya followed him onto the chair and straddled him against it with her knees either side of his legs.</p>
<p>"Miss Stark?" he questioned as he held his glass firmly.</p>
<p>Arya ignored him as she pried his cane out his other hand and let if fall to the floor before gently pushing the glass towards his face, "Drink."</p>
<p>Tywin complied but kept his eyes on Arya's grey ones, unsure of what to expect next from the petit woman.</p>
<p>"Good, now we are <em>comfy</em> you can answer a question," Arya said sinking into his lap further and placing her hands against his chest playing with one of his shirt buttons, "Why did you come here, to Winterfell after the BTK case wrapped up."</p>
<p>Tywin took a deep sip of the whiskey, deciding whether to tell her the truth or not, he caught sight of her scrutinising him and decided she would see through any lie.</p>
<p>"I was waiting for you to come and collect on your favour."</p>
<p>"It is <em>two</em> favours and why not wait at your beach house in the Westerlands or one of your properties in the Crownlands, why come to the wilderness of the North? I would have found you were ever you decided to wait."</p>
<p>"I came to Winterfell because," Tywin hesitated momentarily, finding the correct words, "I thought it was appropriate that I die here."</p>
<p>"For the last time Doctor, I have no intention of killing you …." Arya trailed off for a moment as she reconsidered his chosen words, "Ah," she placed a hand on Tywin's cheek making him look at her directly, "you were planning on killing yourself here surrounded by all your perceived mistakes."</p>
<p>Tywin remained silent, draining the last of the whiskey glass and setting it aside on the table beside the bottle. As he dragged back his hands to the arm of his chair Arya grabbed one and started unwrapping the bandages.</p>
<p>"If you want to die why not let Roose Bolton do the job, he seemed keen," Arya inquired as she successfully unwrapped one of Tywin's bandaged hands then started working on the other.</p>
<p>"I still owed you a debt and I always pay my debts," Tywin rumbled examining his freed hands and flexing his fingers slowly.</p>
<p>The cuts where Ramsey had stabbed them were still highly visible and tender but they had closed and were healing.</p>
<p>Arya turned Tywin's hands palm up and traced the cuts with her thumbs before reminding him, "You still owe me a favour."</p>
<p>"Only if you insist I didn't save you from Ramsey Bolton," Tywin rebuked, still disputing the second claimed favour.</p>
<p>Arya quickly entwined her hands with Tywin's and gave them a gentle squeeze causing Tywin to gasp in the pain that shot down his arms, "I do insist."</p>
<p>Tywin sucked in some pain absorbing breaths as Arya released his hands and started to unbutton his shirt to halfway.</p>
<p>"What are you doing?" Tywin asked as he placed his hands carefully on the armrests, wanting them out of harms way.</p>
<p>"I would have thought that obvious. I think you are losing your touch Doctor," Arya said teasingly as her hand ghosted over his shoulder wound that had a large white wrap covering it and going around the shoulder.</p>
<p>"Miss Stark-"</p>
<p>"Doctor, you just confessed that after I leave, you intend to kill yourself so why don't you allow yourself one last indulgence," Arya hissed into his ear as her hand made its way to his belt buckle.</p>
<p>Tywin's hands remained firmly on the arm rests as he tried to control himself, "Miss Stark what would your last favour entail?"</p>
<p>"Ah interest now are you," she murmured as her hand grazed over his semi-erect penis as she unbuckled his belt.</p>
<p>Tywin managed to stifle the moan building up in his throat and ground out, "As I told you before, I don't like leaving debts unsettled and you seem to be insisting on the second favour quite strongly."</p>
<p>"What I want is a partner," Arya stated as she kissed and nipped her way down Tywin's throat.</p>
<p>"Why would you want-" Tywin started before a deep groan erupted from his mouth as Arya's hand glided underneath his boxers and curled around his member.</p>
<p>"A partner?" Arya finished his sentence with glee as she stopped her trail of kisses to observe his face, "I kill bad people, and I would like to continue to do that and rid this world of as many scumbags as I can. I would be better at my job if I had say an FBI contact that had access to their vast databases and active case files."</p>
<p>"I am retired," Tywin replied understanding what she was implying.</p>
<p>"You can reverse that decision easily," Arya purred pumping her hand slowly, "You caught me and you were easily the best profiler the FBI had on their books until BTK got in your head."</p>
<p>Tywin closed his eyes and sunk further back into the chair as Arya kept massaging his growing member. It was becoming impossible for him to ignore the pleasant sensation that was building but still he kept in the conversation, "And now you are in my head."</p>
<p>Arya smiled at that response and increased the pace of her pumping wanting to melt the last of Tywin's resistance to her.</p>
<p>"<em>Help me</em>. I know you enjoy the chase and kill just as much as I do, <em>so join me</em>. Make sure the next Aerys doesn't have the opportunity to set that fire or the next Gregor Clegane doesn't have the opportunity to kill little babies or the next Meryn Trant-"</p>
<p>Arya's rant was cut off by Tywin capturing her lips in a forceful embrace that would leave bruised lips.</p>
<p>Not to be outdone by Tywin's burst of aggression Arya, shimmied her black trousers down along with her pants and lowered herself onto Tywin's fully erect cock.</p>
<p>Tywin groaned into Arya's mouth as she deepened the kiss while rocking on his lap.</p>
<p>Tywin felt Arya's hand grasp at each shoulder for purchase, the pleasure outweighed the pain in his shoulder under her tight grip and the rippling waves of pain in his hands that were now placed around Arya's waist guiding her thrusting hips were nothing compared to the gratification he was receiving from the feel of her around him.</p>
<p>The intensity of their situation coupled with the fact that both were yearning for their climaxes meant they didn't last long in their current situation and indeed only a dozen more thrusts later Arya moaned as her climax hit her and her walls clenched around Tywin's enlarged cock. He peaked a second later as his attempt to ride out her waves was ended as she bit his earlobe and a small hand squeezed his throat in an overload of pleasure.</p>
<p>They stayed in that position for a few collective breaths then Arya moved from him, causing him to release a low growl at the loss of contact.</p>
<p>Arya let out a light laugh as she readjusted her clothes, "If you decide to live Doctor that is just a taste of what you could look forward to."</p>
<p>Tywin watched as Arya reorganised her clothing before stating in a sated voice, "I will live Miss Stark," then buckled up his trousers, "but not for you or your proposed partnership but for my family and the justice that is so lacking in this world. Being here and knowing who you are made me realise that my death isn't the answer, their deaths are. Every criminal who thinks they got away with it, the worst of the worst, the smart ones that escape the attention of the police and the FBI. We will make sure those that deserve to die do die."</p>
<p>Arya who had observed the conviction in Tywin's words nodded approvingly, "Glad I could convince you to see things my way."</p>
<p>"I still don't think I owe you a second favour but I will help you. I will be your partner," Tywin said pushing himself out of the chair and approaching Arya without the use of his cane, limping only slightly.</p>
<p>When Tywin was close enough Arya started doing up the buttons of his shirt, "You are feeling more confident in my company now."</p>
<p>A ghost of a smile played on Tywin's lips as his hand rested on the frame of the fireplace, "You have said on repeated occasions that you weren't going to kill me."</p>
<p>"Mmm," Arya agreed whimsically before calling for Nymeria, "It is time for us to go but Doctor, there is an event in the Reach I think you should attend next week."</p>
<p>"What event?" Tywin asked watching Nymeria appear out the kitchen and lumber towards Arya.</p>
<p>"The annual ball the Tyrells host at Highgarden, you will be attending and so will I."</p>
<p>"As Arya Stark?"</p>
<p>"Yes, it is time for Miss Arya Stark to return to the world, as it is for Doctor Tywin Lannister," Arya winked at him before picking up her backpack, and fiddling with the straps, "but don't worry being covert has always been my style."</p>
<p>"And who are your targets?"</p>
<p>"Our<em> victims</em> will be Loras and Margaery Tyrell," at Tywin's inquiring look Arya smugly grinned, "Let us just say that not all of Margaery's many bed warmers have made it back out of Highgarden after their night of bliss in her company."</p>
<p>"Loras's involvement?"</p>
<p>"Not entirely sure yet but they appear to do everything together so why not murder together?" Arya hypothesised while opening the door.</p>
<p>"They are extremely close," Tywin muttered already turning his mind to constructing their profiles and dissecting the possibility that they were sibling murderers who killed their lovers.</p>
<p>"I look forward to seeing you again Doctor Lannister," Arya hummed catching his golden flecked green eyes with her shining grey ones then stepping out the door and disappearing into the snowstorm that was raging outside with her wolf.</p>
<p>Tywin sat back down in the armchair, poured himself another whiskey tumbler. He didn't truly know what he had gotten himself into, all he knew was that he was excited.</p>
<p>Excited for the chase, excited for the righteous kill, excited to see Miss Arya Stark again and most of all he was excited to traverse the world without carrying the burden of responsibility for the Starks' deaths or the cloud of the BTK kills lingering in the recess of his mind.</p>
<p>Tywin let out a loud laugh as he realised that Tyrion's advice of drinking, fucking and chasing down serial killers had really been on the money.</p>
<p>He had never felt so alive.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author Notes:</p>
<p>Okay well that was the end of Madness!</p>
<p>I like how Arya stayed in constant control throughout and that Tywin in the end decided against suicide but is not magically a healthier person (still an addict to alcohol).</p>
<p>Hope you enjoyed this little adventure into serial killers and psychology that I dragged Tywin and Arya into. This was another challenge for me to complete a relatively short and contained story as my mind likes to keep sprawling out ideas everywhere and that isn't always a good thing for a story so this was essential practice to create a tight story, oh and the last chapter was also smut practice as well, I guess but I didn't really go overboard, I don't think. I am more of a plot writer anyway.</p>
<p>On that, I do prefer the platonic, father/daughter or mentor/teacher relationship that flourishes between Arya and Tywin rather than the romantic one but I thought I would try my hand at Arya/Tywin just to see how it felt as a writer.</p>
<p>I think I could have probably gotten a few more chapters in by writing out how that ball at Highgarden, mentioned at the end, would have gone but then I was reflecting and thought that what I did in the end was a more natural end point and I could leave your guy's vivid imaginations to ponder what would have happened in the future.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and if you liked my work please check out my other stories on my profile, you might find one you like :D</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please consider supporting the story by favouriting, following and reviewing if you like it so far, thanks!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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